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Monday, November 7, 2016

This morning we gather as the ‘small c’ Holy
catholic Church. We gather as the
visible Church of Jesus Christ here on earth, not only to receive the True Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ, but boldly confess our faith. We gather to receive the forgiveness of our
sins. We gather, because God not only
created the heavens and the earth, but calls us to daily and weekly come to
church and worship Him with our confession and faith in what Jesus Christ has
done on the Cross of Calvary for all of mankind.

Yet, this morning we gather also boldly
confessing another part of the Apostle’s and Nicene Creed that connects us, not
only to the visible people gathered here, but especially to those who have gone
before us. This morning we celebrate All
Saints Sunday, where we remember our loved ones and those who have passed from
life here on this earth across the veil that separates the living and the dead into
eternity. We do this when we confess in
both the Nicene, but especially the Apostle’s Creed, “the communion of saints”.

Some ask, what does “the communion of saints” really mean and how are we
connected to those who have gone before us?
Whether this last week, last month or last year. For some of us, including myself, driving out
to the cemetery and walking among the gravestones is one way that I connect
with some of the saints. As I wrote in
the last newsletter, I have gone, seen, visited and walked among many of the
saints I have laid to rest. Even as a
young man I visited my grandparents cemetery plots both in Pennsylvania and
Iowa as a way of honoring their memory and connecting with them, even though it
was only their earthly bodies and not their eternal spirit given them by God. Yet, believe it or not, I now understand and
believe I don’t need to visit the cemetery any more.

The reason I say this is because, today and
every day we celebrate Holy Communion we not only remember, but we can
personally connect with “the
communion of saints”. You see
the connection we can have comes through, by and is celebrated with our receipt
of the precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we come forward and receive Holy
Communion we make a connection not only with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
but with our loved ones who have gone before us. This is why it is called a ‘mystical
communion’ a mystical connection that transcends time, space and even our own
reason as limited as it is.

For when we not only come for continuous
communion, but also with communion at the altar, we make the most intimate
connection available for us this side of eternity. When I visit both Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan,
I explain it this way. The way most older
churches were built, they purposefully placed the altar at the ‘front of the
church’ against the wall and would depending upon the church have a communion
rail placed around the altar, so members could come and take communion. Historically the rail was a ‘half circle’
ending against the back wall that the altar was placed against.

When the ‘visible church’ would come and
receive communion from the altar around the rail, the church would gather and
receive Jesus Christ precious Body and Blood as a church family who had
forgiven one another and did not hold any grudges or even any ill
feelings. A further confession by the
church was the understanding that the rail, did not end with the wall. The rail continued behind the wall and formed
a full circle with the beautiful and theological understanding that we who are
still on our earthly pilgrimage are still connected through the Lord’s Supper
with “the communion of saints”,
those who have gone before us.

So when we gather like today on All Saints
day, we gather not as individuals, but with “the communion of saints” who await our entrance into
eternity, but intimately and personally connected with them through our receipt
of Holy Communion. For with this
understanding of the ‘mystical communion’, we begin to understand that God Who
created the heavens and the earth, also created time and has dominion over
it. God is not limited by our ‘earthly
construct’ and God with the faith given to us at Holy Baptism not only allows
us, but encourages us to trust Him and believe in our personal connection with “the communion of saints” no
matter if we met them or even with the saints like Martin Luther or Moses.

These last 8 days have in one sense allowed
our celebration of All Saints Sunday to have an exclamation point put on it with
my having performed three funerals and attending an additional funeral at the
Max. But I am reminded of one particular
funeral in February 2013.

In October and November 2010 after our
arrival here at Emmanuel I had the extreme pleasure of meeting, visiting and eventually
bringing communion to Etta Butts both in her home when she could no longer drive
and at Good Samaritan. When Etta finally
entered eternal glory in February 2013, we prepared for her funeral as was the
normal custom. Yet on the faithful day
we were to lay her to rest, God gave Goodland a beautiful covering of snow.

As the family gathered here at the church
we only had in total about 10-15 people to attend. Unlike the funeral at the Max Jones this
week, having only 10-15 people here in the church was honestly very sad. But what I take comfort and solace in is that
even though the pews appeared mostly empty, “the communion of saints” filled every last pew. For “the
communion of saints” celebrated the entrance of Etta into eternity and
welcomed her home into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is why when we celebrate All Saints
Sunday we do so not only to remember those who have passed in the last year,
but also to remember all the saints of all time and all place. For in the Apostle’s Creed we make the clear
connection and confession that “the
communion of saints” not only connects us but enables us to be
comforted by Jesus Christ Precious Body and Blood, but also have a foretaste of
the feast to come. For the mystical
communion we celebrate is because of the free offer of grace and salvation
offered by Jesus Christ for all of mankind that will join all of us together in
one confession as “the communion of
saints”. AMEN.